A last hurrah of preserving!

Holy cow, folks. That’s all I have to say. Last night Mr. Pea’s mom called to tell me that their local farmstand (a huge one) was closing for the season and that everything was on sale. Would I like anything? she asked. But of course! Maybe a couple squashes! Some tomatoes! Do they have sugar pumpkins?

This is what she sent Mr. Pea home with, after he spent his Monday off helping them with some projects.

Would you like a tally?

2 enormous boxes of field tomatoes. I don’t even know how many pounds there are. lots. I am planning on blanching and freezing them, cutting out the less desireable parts and popping them in gallon bags. And eating them. Tonight we had one in enchiladas.

6 butternut squash. Six. Thankfully, they’re all under a pound.

3 acorn squash

2 enormous spaghetti squash

3 sugar pumpkins

12 ears of corn. 12. I put one in the enchiladas tonight–why not? I am planning on blanching and stripping the rest for freezing.

Holy cow. I don’t have time for mass preserving, so I’m really, really grateful that the squash will last a while on their own, probably most of the winter. I’d like to can the tomatoes, but I’m not messing around with those quart jars again after the last disaster–when I couldn’t get enough water to go over them to seal well and made a heck of a mess of my stove. I don’t feel like buying more pint jars, though I definitely wish I’d done that in the first place way back when. I’m very grateful for all these veggies, and I think we’ll enjoy them for months to come.